Katamatite will be looking to kick off its Picola District Football League season on the front foot on Saturday.
The Tigers, who had a bye last weekend, will be off to Jerilderie to take on a home side full of confidence after a round one win.
It was a solid 57-point victory over Blighty for the Demons, with Jerilderie leading at every change.
Despite the big win last week, this weekend’s clash should be a more even contest and Katamatite coach Jedd Wright is confident his side can get the job done.
“We’re ready to go obviously, we’ve got a couple out just through little niggles and a couple with COVID-19 as well,” Wright said.
“We’ll still put a pretty decent team on the park though so we’re hoping for a good showing.”
Wright chose to keep the names of the missing players under wraps, but said after a slow start to pre-season, it had been a pretty good few weeks at Tigerland.
He said the side would look to stretch teams using its forward line this year, with good, hard, contested footy to be expected, starting against Jerilderie.
“Their (Jerilderie) confidence will be up and about and I suppose looking at a few results a lot of games are won and lost in that first quarter, so hopefully we can just slow it all down a bit, get a bit of composure and go from there,” he said.
Coming off a solid round one win, Jerilderie coach Chris Marshall is looking forward to the challenge.
“It was a scrappy win being the first game but we’ll take it and are looking forward to our first home game against a great opposition in Katamatite,” Marshall said.
“Our local boys are just looking forward to the challenge, to be honest. I think last year we went down to them by a goal over there so that’s still in the back of the mind a little bit.”
Marshall said two key on-ballers, James Gregory and Blair Henery, would be missing for Saturday’s game; however, forward Mitch Conlan and vice-captain Grant Patrick Smith would be back on the field.
Saturday’s contest will be Jerilderie’s first home game of the season and the club will be looking forward to a strong showing of local support.
“The vibe around town is really humming,” Marshall said.
“It feels like forever since we’ve played a home game and coming off our win the club’s all up and about.
“We’re looking for a good day weather-wise and it’s a good opportunity to see where we’re at.”
Jerilderie will host Katamatite on Saturday at 2.05pm at the Jerilderie Recreation Reserve.
In other games, Waaia will be looking to continue its bright start to the year when it takes on Mathoura at home.
Blighty will travel to Katunga after suffering a disappointing loss to Jerilderie last week.
Katandra, which suffered a slim loss in round one, will be up against it, hosting a hungry Strathmerton side.
Both Picola United and the Deni Rovers will be looking to get points on the board at the Picola Recreation Reserve.
Meanwhile, Tungamah, Berrigan, Rennie and Tocumwal will all have a week off.